Otim - Educate!’s invisible hand

Otim beams:
“Being the invisible hand in people’s lives and letting them shine for the things they do by themselves. That’s what mentoring is.”

I work at Educate! I support young people and I also support the design of innovative programmes that transform the lives of several other young people. I’m an Entrepreneur myself and I like to always define myself as a mentor.

Otim - Uganda's no1 Mentor

I spent my first two years at Educate! mentoring students and developing their abilities and challenging them to come up with really creative and innovate ideas and putting them into real action.

I did several businesses when I was little. I tried a small market stall when I was about 14-years old.

“I remember my first business. I was about 10 years old. I asked my Mum for small piece of land out back, so I could plant tomatoes.”

I have had some successes as an entrepreneur, but if I’d had the opportunity to be mentored by someone successful, a role model, someone who was committed to supporting me grow I would have been better.

It’s been a transformational experience for me being a mentor - watching someone you have supported and mentored grow and be able to empower other people.

"There are many stories I could tell. I would like share one. The story of Suraj."

Suraj's story...

Suraj's big idea was to create and run a school for his village. He knew that children in his village loved football and that, up until now, they'd only been able to play with a woven ball. So Suraj bought a shiny new football and used it to attract children to join him to play football regularly. The small football club became a school, now teaching 400 pupils and employing 7 teachers. Suraj's idea created a livelihood for himself, a livelihood for 7 others, and education for hundreds.